Relena Was Dead
by Wicked Child
Summary: He looked over at Heero and felt a moment of fear. Yes he knew that Heero would be the one to find out and that man was the only person Trowa had ever truly feared.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Unfortunate as it may seem, I do not own and I just play with dem youngins.   
  


AN: This is first told from Heero's perspective but will eventually change.  
  
**Prologue**   
  
Relena Peacecraft Dorlian was dead. She was only twenty-six years old. She was not killed by terrorists as some believe. She did not commit suicide as others would believe. Fate, it would seem, had felt the need to end her life at a time when she was on top of the world. Most believe this to be true. It wasn't. Only a select few knew the bitter truth.   
  
Relena had died because of a simple mistake made by some poor overworked and underpaid man on orders from his under-worked and overpaid boss. But no one wanted to believe that such a small mistake could snuff out the life of someone who represented hope, peace, and innocence. But such a thing did happen and Relena Peacecraft Dorlian, at twenty-six, was dead. She would have been twenty-seven in three weeks.   
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter One**   
by Wicked Child   
  
Heero was numb. Duo was numb. Quatre was numb. Even Wufei was numb. It showed on all their faces. Zechs was heartbroken, taking comfort from no one, not even his ex-wife Lucrezia. Dorothy was shedding tears. Not the fake 20th century Hollywood tears but real ones, big fat ones. It surprised Une. Mariemaia held her mother's hand despite being a rebellious teen. Only Trowa was missing. No, so was Sally. No, Sally was sitting next to Lucrezia trying to comfort her best friend.   
  
The door opened and Trowa gracefully walked in. _He's numb too,_ thought Une. Trowa walked to the only available seat, looking at the others gathered in the room. As he sat, Une noticed that the former mercenary had quirked an eyebrow. _No, he's not numb. He just doesn't care._ Une shook her head. _How sad._ The others must have thought the same as Une as each glared at him whenever they remembered his presence.   
  
"Thank you all for coming here," Zechs began. His voice was soft but raw. They had heard the rumors that he had been spending his nights screaming ever since Relena's passing. No one wanted to believe Relena's brother was slowly going insane. "I've asked you all here to help with the planning of Renela's…." Zechs stopped. He couldn't say it.   
  
"Funeral," Trowa easily supplied for him.   
  
"Yes, thank you Mr. Barton." The words were clipped and forced out. "I was hoping that you five young men would be pallbearers as will I."   
  
The four numb men merely nodded. Trowa said nothing as it wasn't expected of him. Zechs ignored him.   
  
"Dorothy, I was hoping you would dress my sister in whatever outfit she would have preferred at a time like this."   
  
"Of course. Miss Relena and I discussed such matters. She will be dressed appropriately."   
  
Zechs nodded. It didn't surprise him that Dorothy and his baby sister discussed their funerals. The two women, despite their status, had a rather morbid streak running through them.   
  
"Une if you could be so kind as to handle all diplomatic requirements for my sister?"   
  
"I've already begun looking into it," Une replied.   
  
Once again Zechs merely nodded.   
  
"Mariemaia, would you see to the flower arrangements?" At the tearful nod from the teenager, Zechs continued. "Noin, I would like you to stay with my sister until the time comes. Sally, please look ever all press related materials." Both women nodded and the room became silent, broken only here and there from feminine sobs.   
  
No one looked at anyone. No one said anything. The sobs and silence all that they needed.   
  
The door opened and Trowa prepared to leave. Heero stopped him.   
  
"Where are you going Barton?" Heero's usual death glare had been replaced by one of pure animalistic fury.   
  
"My presence is no longer required if in fact it ever was."   
  
Heero grabbed the taller man's shirt making them both eye level. "Don't you even care Relena's gone? Isn't there some part of you that has actually been touched by her? My God! Wufei has shed tears for her. I have cried for her. Why can't you? What the hell is wrong with you?"   
  
Trowa merely looked back at Heero. Heero wanted to rip out his throat. It rather amused the former mercenary.   
  
"I don't cry tears I don't have. Yes the woman's death is unfortunate."   
  
"Unfortunate?" Heero cried. "Are you even human?"   
  
_Interesting,_ Trowa thought. _Heero of all people asking me if I'm human._ Trowa would have laughed at Heero's question but didn't want to put up with the wrath of all those present. Instead he asked a question of his own.   
  
"Do you cry for the dearly loved Relena, or do you cry for yourselves?" He looked at all of his so-called friends. "Tears are just a pathetic attempt to mask one's own selfishness and self involvement." He removed Heero's hand from its hold on his shirt and began to walk away.   
  
The door remained open and no one tried to hide their harsh words regarding the former Heavyarms pilot.   
  
Trowa stepped into the elevator and checked his watch. He was running late thanks to Heero's sudden show of affection for the decedent. Trowa looked up at the approach of soft footsteps. Quatre. _Trying to discover the roots to my feelings or rather lack of them. Why are these elevator doors taking so long to close?_   
  
"Trowa."   
  
"Quatre."   
  
The blond looked at his best friend, trying to figure him out. After nearly ten years, the mask of no emotion still molded his face. It hurt Quatre to know that his friend still wouldn't allow anyone in. Quatre bit his lip in frustration. It made him look the way he did when they were younger.   
  
"Why Trowa?" was all that he managed to get out.   
  
"Why what Mr. Winner?"   
  
"Don't call me that. Friends don't call each other by their formal names."   
  
Trowa nodded in acquiesce.   
  
"So answer me," Quatre said. He didn't like the way Trowa was acting. He seemed so distant and uncaring. There was more to Trowa than that.   
  
"What was your question?"   
  
"Why are you acting like this? Relena meant a lot to everybody, you included. So why the act?" Quatre was getting upset.   
  
"Why prolong your own misery? Celebrate the life she led. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."   
  
As the doors closed, Trowa added, "Don't let Dorothy dress her up in anything pink. It's a horrible color." What Quatre didn't hear after the doors shut completely was, "She hated that color with a passion in the end."   
  
Quatre walked back to the room head bowed.   
  
"Well?" Heero demanded. "What did that poor excuse for a human being have to say?"   
  
Quatre looked at him. There was so much pain housed in those eyes. _Poor Heero.__ He didn't know until it was too late. He had always been in love with Relena._ "He said we should celebrate her life. He said that we shouldn't prolong our own misery."   
  
"Clearly not human," Heero muttered.   
  
Quatre sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with him. I tried to sense his feelings but couldn't. It's like he put up some sort of barrier around himself. The most inkling of a feeling that he threw off was…." Quatre stopped and shook his head not understanding.   
  
"What Quatre?" Duo asked rather gently. "What did he let you feel?"   
  
"Hate Duo. He let me know his hate." Silently Quatre shivered. Trowa had only thrown it off for a mere moment but it had run deep and was intense. It scared him he realized. Trowa scared him.   
  
~~~   
  
Trowa reached his apartment a half hour later than expected. The figure on the couch said nothing to this as he entered. Trowa's tardiness could easily be explained by the nature of his 'mission.'   
  
"So Mr. Barton?"   
  
Trowa smiled a genuine smile. "All is well. I am to be a pallbearer for the funeral. Relena Peacecraft Dorlian is truly dead."   
  
The figure stretched as it got up and walked towards the green eyed man. "Good. May she rest in peace. That is, if a bitch like that can rest in peace." The figure kissed Trowa's lips. He tasted like cherries. "And our other plan?"   
  
"Everything is prepared. You can leave anytime you wish and I will join you shortly thereafter." He began leading the other figure toward the main bedroom.   
  
"I shall wait until you are ready to leave. Neither one of us needs to be lonely anymore. Our next adventure begins together."   
  
Trowa nodded. As the two sank into the bed, Trowa realized that his life was taking on a semblance of peace. It felt wonderful and for that he would be eternally grateful to the now deceased Relena Peacecraft Dorlian.   
  
~~~   
  
The funeral was beautiful, all but six men crying. The cathedral covered in bouquets of pink and white carnations and roses. She looked peaceful to most who were allowed to view the coffin.   
  
To Heero, she didn't look real. _More like wax or a mannequin. She looks anything but Relena. **My Relena**._   
  
He took his position on one side of the casket with Duo and Trowa behind him. Zechs, Quatre, and Wufei made up the other side. It took more strength to keep a stoic face for Heero than it did in any battle he ever fought.   
  
The figure watching from above felt a little pang of guilt at causing the man so much pain. No one deserved to hurt but sometimes pain had to be endured to move on with life. The figure's eyes moved to rest on Trowa and all guilt fled. This was the right thing to do. Relena Peacecraft Dorlian had to die and Trowa had helped make it happen. If the figure hadn't already been in love with him, just the fact that he had helped in such a difficult task was enough to make the figure eternally beholden to him.   
  
The figure then turned and slipped out. No need to visit the graveside service. All that needed to be said had been. The figure walked back to Trowa's apartment, a large weight lifted off its shoulders.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. Are you happy now?   
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter Two**   
by Wicked Child   
  
_6 Years Later_   
  
Heero watched the house, fearful of what lay beyond the massive oak double doors. The limousine finished traveling its way up the winding drive and stopped right in front of those dreaded doors. Heero hadn't been back in so long. Not since the funeral, or rather a week after the funeral when Zechs had not so politely asked him to stop visiting the residence. He had never before felt such fear, save for the time he heard the news. Heero sighed and stepped out of the vehicle. He was back. _Relena's home._   
  
He rang the doorbell and was soon met by a tired looking Zechs. Not tired from lack of sleep or being overworked. Zechs had the look of a man who was tired of living life.   
  
"Yuy." He moved to the side and let the younger man in.   
  
"Why am I here Zechs? I know it's not to rehash old war stories."   
  
"Don't worry Yuy. I don't want you here."   
  
"Then why?" Heero asked somewhat confused.   
  
"It's him." Zechs motioned toward the staircase. "The old man wants to talk to you before he dies."   
  
Heero's confusion increased. _What old man?_   
  
"He's in the first bedroom on the right. He's a bit out of it so don't be surprised if he doesn't make any sense." Zechs moved into an adjoining room and poured himself a glass of scotch.   
  
Heero nodded and began walking up the staircase. How many times had he walked up these same steps to collect and escort Relena to some diplomatic function? How many times had he carried her back up these stairs, exhausted from work, the functions, or on the rarer occasion when she was drunk?   
  
"Oh and Yuy!" Zechs called to him as he reached the second floor landing. "Don't even dare go in there."   
  
"I have no desire to." Heero then turned and made his way to the first bedroom on the right.   
  
There, in the middle of the room lay a man who resembled a skeleton.   
  
"Pagan."   
  
A young nurse walked over to Heero. "May I help you sir?"   
  
"I was told that I was expected. Heero Yuy."   
  
Recognition dawned on the girl. "Oh! Yes Mr. Pagan has asked for you many times in the past several weeks. Of course that's when he's more lucid. He's told me so much about you."   
  
Heero looked back at the man on the bed. He had long since stopped checking up on any and all of Relena's close friends and loved ones. "What's wrong with him?"   
  
"Oh you don't know?" The girl became somewhat subdued. "Cancer. He's already gone through several treatments but unfortunately none have helped. Mr. Peacecraft hired the best doctors and paid for the most expensive treatments but nothing has helped."   
  
"How much longer?"   
  
The nurse put her head down. "Any day now I suppose."   
  
Heero nodded. A chair had been set next to the bed and Heero took his place beside the dying man. As he listened to Pagan's breathing, Heero realized something the nurse did not. _Pagan isn't going to die any day now. He'll be lucky if he lasts through the night._   
  
Heero stayed there for several hours not moving. Zechs would come in occasionally to check up on him and make certain that the former pilot had not wandered into Relena's old quarters. Heero didn't let Zechs' paranoia get to him.   
  
Finally the dying man awoke. At first Heero didn't notice until Pagan's raspy whisper called his name.   
  
"Heero is that you?"   
  
"Yes Pagan, it's me."   
  
Pagan smiled. "You look good my boy. Not like me or Milliardo. How has life in your thirties been treating you?"   
  
"I can't complain."   
  
"Neither did I."   
  
The two talked for awhile, discussing days passed, how Heero was the number one Preventer with Wufei a close second. Both Duo and Quatre were in an elite group themselves among the Preventer staff, working specifically sensitive cases. This pleased the old man greatly and he passed into a deep slumber after leaving Heero still confused as to why he had been summoned. But he too fell asleep to Pagan's heart monitor beeping.   
  
~~~   
  
What seemed like minutes but was in fact several hours later, Heero woke to a bone thin hand slapping his wrist. In his half-sleep-half-awake state, it reminded him of the nuns at St. Gabriel's School.   
  
Involuntarily he called out, "Relena."   
  
"She lives!"   
  
The strange comment made Heero shake the cobwebs of sleep from his mind and regain his bearings. He was still in Pagan's room and it was now eleven at night. Pagan kept trying to get his attention.   
  
"She lives Heero!"   
  
"What're you talking about?"   
  
"Relena lives! She never died. I tell you she lives!"   
  
_Pagan must not be having a lucid moment_, Heero thought concerned.   
  
"Relena died six years ago Pagan. Remember? I was a pallbearer."   
  
"No! A lie! She lives I tell you. You must find her. Bring her home. Heal her brother, heal herself. Heal you."   
  
"Relena died in a car accident. I saw her body. She was dead." Heero couldn't believe Pagan was this far gone.   
  
"NO!" Pagan's voice was forceful, his grip strong. "Relena lives! She is alive and well. If you do not believe me, seek out the clown!"   
  
Heero stared at Pagan. The light in the old man's eyes began to fade and his grip loosened until it gave way and fell from Heero's wrist. A moment later the heart monitor flat lined. Pagan was dead. The nurse had informed him at some point that Pagan had a DNR order.   
  
His last comments echoed in Heero's head.   
  
_"Relena lives! She is alive and well. If you do not believe me, seek out the clown!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is the property of its respective owners.   
  
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter Three**   
by Wicked Child   
  
"Poor guy. Died believing Relena was alive." Duo shook his head. "If I ever get sick and there's no hope for me, promise to shoot me?"   
  
Wufei snorted at his friend's comment. "In that case, we should have killed you a long time ago."   
  
"Hey!" Duo exclaimed. "I don't think I'm hopeless."   
  
"I didn't say you were hopeless Maxwell. Just sick."   
  
Duo stuck his nose in the air. "I resemble that remark."   
  
Quatre sighed. "Come on you two. Heero's being serious."   
  
Duo rolled his eyes. "That's new."   
  
"I believe him."   
  
The three other Preventer agents looked over at Heero.   
  
"You believe him?" Wufei asked.   
  
"I believe him Wufei."   
  
"So she faked her own death? What for?" Duo asked. As far as he knew, Relena had been happy with her life. The world was still at peace, unless you counted little fires that had to be put out here and there. She was still an influential political force, people still relying on her to settle matters and to bring about new resolutions and bills for The People. She had glowed as though she were in love and expecting something wonderful to happen in her life. Unfortunately it never happened.   
  
"You actually have to ask? How about a life of her own?"   
  
"Well no shit Sherlock Chang! But why not let us in on it?" Duo looked at the others. "Right? We were important to her weren't we? Not just Heero but the rest of us too. And wouldn't Zechs know?"   
  
"You would think so unless she were running from everything and everyone associated with her previous life." Quatre looked over at Heero. "What do you think?"   
  
"I think we need to visit the cemetery. Or rather a certain family's mausoleum."   
  
"Uh Heero," Duo cautioned. "That's sac religious. I don't know if I can participate." Duo had finally come to terms with his past and regained his confidence in the Lord. He was now a devout Catholic who went to Mass every week with his family.   
  
Heero shrugged. "Then don't. The three of us will do it without you."   
  
"I'm sorry Heero. But I agree with Duo." Quatre looked apologetic. "Relena is gone. I know you loved her and want to believe she's alive but the truth is that her body is in that mausoleum."   
  
"What about you Wufei? In or out?" Heero ignored everything Quatre had said after agreeing with Duo. If he had to, Heero would do it alone, the way he used to.   
  
"I have yet to decide. You will know my answer when the time is right."   
  
Heero nodded.   
  
"When are you planning on doing it?" Wufei asked.   
  
"Tomorrow night. After Pagan's funeral."   
  
~~~   
  
Pagan's funeral was held in the early afternoon with only a few people gathering to pay their respects. Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Wufei were there as well as Zechs, the young nurse, Noin, a few people Heero didn't know and Mariemaia. The service was short but sweet and the coffin placed inside the Peacecraft family mausoleum. Later that night, Heero would be breaking into the crypt to find out if the man was telling the truth or just delusional.   
  
While the other three former Gundam pilots spoke to Zechs and the others, Heero studied the mausoleum to find the necessary information he would need. As he circled the stone structure, he noticed that nothing had truly changed in the past six years. But if he wanted to be honest with himself, Heero would have to say that nothing had changed in the past two years since he stopping visiting Relena's resting place. Ever since he met Natalie and had chosen to let go of 'what ifs' and 'what might have beens.'   
  
As he came back around the front, Heero noticed a woman standing among the tombstones only a hundred yards away. Her hair was covered in a scarf, hiding any attempt to discern hair color. Her eyes were also hidden by a pair of sunglasses reminiscent of starlets of long ago.   
  
She wasn't anyone Heero could recognize but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She reminded him of _her_. The way stood almost identical to the way _she_ stood. The way her hands clenched at her sides reminding him the way _she_ would clench _her_ hands.   
  
"Oy Heero!" Duo said as he joined his friend. "What you looking at?"   
  
Heero kept his eyes trained on the woman who could have been a statue but for the wind whipping her dress about her.   
  
"That woman," Heero said as he nodded in her direction. "She reminds me of…."   
  
"Relena," Duo finished. Duo didn't want to admit it but somehow the woman truly did remind him of the deceased Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.   
  
At the mention of the name, the woman turned and walked up the small hill toward the street. She stopped at a tree and was accompanied by a tall slender man with ever so graceful movements. The man said something and the woman nodded, smiling. She intertwined their fingers and walked away.   
  
"Forget about what I said Heero."   
  
Heero looked at Duo slightly puzzled.   
  
"Sac religious or not, I'm in. That was way too creepy and I've seen some creepy shit in my life. But that just took the cake. Too creepy."   
  
"What was creepy?" Quatre asked walking up to them.   
  
"We just saw…." Duo began.   
  
"A woman who reminded us…." Heero interjected.   
  
"You can leave now Yuy," Zechs said interrupting the three. His eyes locked with his former nemesis.   
  
The two men stared each other down until Duo grabbed Heero's arm.   
  
"Yeah, we were just about to leave anyway. C'mon Heero we have to make plans for tonight remember? Let's go Q."   
  
Quatre was lost. He didn't know there was so much animosity between the two former pilots. He thought that had died long ago. "What's tonight?"   
  
"The party remember? It's Heero's two year anniversary with Natalie." Duo shot the blond man a look that promised that he'd tell Quatre everything later.   
  
The three of them left together after learning that Wufei had already left. Heero was unable to contact him either so he told Duo that it would just be the two of them.   
  
"What?" Quatre exclaimed. He couldn't believe Duo had changed his mind. He knew his partner was unpredictable and rather fickle but this surprised him. "When did you change your mind?"   
  
"This afternoon at the funeral," Duo told him before taking a bite out of a peach. He threw one to Quatre who caught it easily.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"I saw someone who reminded me of a ghost," Duo shrugged. "Besides, Heero still needs me to help out on his mini-mission. Get himself killed otherwise."   
  
Heero looked over and resurrected his glare from times past. He was the only Preventer without a partner and he kept it that way. Although Une had tried forcing a partner on him not long before Relena's death.   
  
The kid was fresh out of the Academy and Une boasted that he was the best student ever. She had told Heero jokingly that he better watch his back or the kid would take over. After a week, Heero had sent the kid running out of the Preventer's main office. He never came back.   
  
Relena had scolded him for being so hard on the kid. They had been talking in her room's sitting area on a small couch Quatre had bought her. She'd played with his hair and he fell asleep on her lap. He later knew that night was one of his favorite memories of her; one he kept to himself. As he turned back to his laptop a single tear slid down his cheek. It wasn't lost on Duo or Quatre.   
  
"We'll collect you when the time comes," Quatre said.   
  
"You mean you're going?" Duo asked.   
  
Quatre smiled. "When my friends need me, I'm there. I would've showed up tonight anyway."   
  
"All right then. We'll go get the supplies while you do whatever it is you need to do on the laptop." Duo and Quatre left Heero alone.   
  
When the door shut, Heero leaned back and closed his eyes. Her smiling face filled his mind's eye. So beautiful.   
  
_Relena. If you're still out there, why didn't you tell me? Why have you left me out? And who was that man?_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to other people. I'm not one of them.   
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter Four**   
by Wicked Child   
  
Midnight. Three dark figures stole across the cemetery grounds unseen save for the native owls making the dead's resting place their own. They reached their destination moments later. Silently each took up their pre-determined positions in order to break in. Just as the mini-mission was about to fully commence, the mausoleum's door began to slowly open. All three figures froze.   
  
It's not everyday that people break into a royal mausoleum only to have it open of its own accord.   
  
"Heero, is that you?"   
  
"Wufei?"   
  
"Maxwell? Quatre?"   
  
"Yes," the two named said in unison.   
  
"Where's Heero?" Wufei walked out of the mausoleum carrying a torch. "There you are. Come in. I haven't touched anything."   
  
Heero grunted in response, his heart slowly returning to normal. For a moment he half expected Relena's decayed body to walk out.   
  
The four men walked inside and Wufei led them to Relena's final resting place. The other three waiting for Heero's command.   
  
_She's going to be in there, decayed and truly gone._ "Let's do this."   
  
It took only a few moments to remove the cover-plate bearing Relena's epitaph. It took a little longer for the four men to remove the coffin and gently lay it down.   
  
No one said anything, the other three again waiting for Heero. Heero waiting for the fear to go away. Minutes passed. Finally Duo could stand it no longer.   
  
"Okay, let's do this." Before anyone could stop him, Duo threw open the coffin.   
  
Silence once again filled the chamber. Lying inside the coffin was Relena Peacecraft Dorlian looking the same as she did the day she was buried.   
  
"Isn't she supposed to be more…gooey?" Duo asked.   
  
Heero nodded. A numbness he hadn't fully felt in six years came back with a vengeance.   
  
"Well, what if it's this place? Maybe no bugs can get in here or something?"   
  
Wufei looked at Duo wondering how he had ever become a Gundam pilot. "You idiot. If cockroaches can survive a nuclear explosion, I assure you they can get into this mausoleum." He turned his attention to Heero. "This is obviously a doll made up to look like Relena."   
  
"We have to be sure," Quatre said. He walked over and pulled several strands of hair out to use for DNA identification. He then took out a pocketknife and cut off a fingernail, also for DNA testing. "I'll take these to HQ and get them on it straight away. Still, it will probably take a few weeks if not months."   
  
"That's fine. I don't need DNA to tell me this thing isn't her." Heero slammed the coffin shut. "I'm through here."   
  
Silently the four men replaced everything back in the proper order and left the cemetery. Heero dropped Quatre off at Preventer HQ and drove Wufei home.   
  
As he got out of the car Wufei asked, "What now?"   
  
"Now I find her." Without another word, Heero sped off toward home. His mind was full of thoughts ranging in emotion from happiness that Relena was still alive to anger and almost hatred for the same reason.   
  
"Uh, Heero. I'm still in the car. Can you please drive a little slower?"   
  
Heero flicked his eyes over to Duo then back to the road. "Sorry," he muttered.   
  
"I understand man. No worries. I'm just curious on how you're going to find her. It's been six years. The trail's cold."   
  
Heero said nothing so Duo continued.   
  
"So do you think she was kidnapped by some sick obsessed 'fan' or did she do it on her own?"   
  
"Her own. Or at least with one other person."   
  
"Like who?" Duo asked. He hadn't a clue.   
  
"I have a pretty good idea who." _Seek out the clown!_   
  
Duo waited for more but Heero said nothing. They pulled up to Duo's house, where all but the front porch was lit. His family warm in their beds.   
  
"When's the last time you spoke to Trowa?" Heero asked.   
  
Duo thought for a moment. He hadn't thought about the man for a long time, almost forgetting his existence. "A week after the now bogus funeral. That's when he resigned from Preventer."   
  
"Has anyone spoken to him since?"   
  
Duo shook his head. "Everyone hated him for his actions after Relena's death. In fact, I don't think Quatre has spoken to him since."   
  
Heero nodded.   
  
"You think he's involved don't you?"   
  
"No but he might know something. I don't believe Trowa would keep this a secret. At least not something like this."   
  
"Who knows?" Duo gave his friend a half hug and went inside his home leaving Heero alone once again.   
  
_Why didn't you tell me? Did you not trust me Relena?_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me but its respective owners.   
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter Five**   
by Wicked Child   
  
Over the next several days, Heero became increasingly frustrated. All searches for Trowa Barton came up empty. Unless of course one counted the real Trowa Barton and Heero didn't. Pilot 03 had seemingly vanished. For the life of him, Heero couldn't remember the name of the circus he used to perform in as cover. He only remembered the first name of the girl Trowa had befriended, Catherine.   
  
Neither Duo nor Wufei knew anything else and Quatre had suddenly been called on a mission. Any search he ran on circuses brought up several dozen, none of them employing a Catherine. Heero was beginning to get pissed off and when he got that way, it was a bad thing. A bad thing indeed.   
  
"Oy Heero! DNA results are in. Looks like Q got on their asses down in Lab before he left." Duo looked at his friend through the vid-phone and stopped briefly. Heero looked like hell. "Man you look like hell. What's wrong?"   
  
"Nothing," Heero snapped. "What are the results?"   
  
"Huh? Oh right. Well the hair has a 99.9% chance of being Relena's but the nail Q took doesn't."   
  
"What?"   
  
"The nail is a synthetic material used in creating fake limbs for film purposes as well as wax or latex based dummies."   
  
"So she used her own hair on a dummy."   
  
"That's my guess. Man that'd take some time wouldn't it?" Duo became quiet as he contemplated the length of time needed to collect a whole head's worth of hair with the follicle still attached. _Too long. She never wanted to be found._   
  
To Heero he said, "Maybe we should let her be. She went to a lot of trouble to not be found. Maybe we should let her rest in peace, so to speak."   
  
"I can't do that Duo. I need answers." Heero turned off the vid-phone.   
  
~~~   
  
A few days later, Quatre returned from his mission. The first thing he did was seek out Heero. He found him in his office.   
  
"Heero, I just found out the news regarding the tests."   
  
Heero clicked away on his keyboard. "Interesting wouldn't you say?"   
  
Quatre nodded.   
  
"You know what else is interesting? The Preventer's keep a record of all former and present Preventer agents ever on staff. Even those lasting only a week and definitely those who've served faithfully for years. We're in here."   
  
Heero turned his laptop around to show Quatre. "So are Duo and Wufei, Zechs, Noin, Sally, Une. All in here."   
  
"What are you getting at?" Quatre asked. He had to tell him something.   
  
"You know who isn't in here? Trowa Barton. No record of him existing in the Preventer organization. Can't even find him through any other search. We used to be able to, so why not now?"   
  
"Maybe because the Preventer big shots believe Trowa has gone back to being a mercenary."   
  
Heero's head shot up. "What do you mean?"   
  
"That's what this last mission was. Reports have been coming in stating that a man resembling Trowa has been responsible for several skirmishes between countries and maybe even assassinations. I was to head to the last reported sighting to confirm or deny."   
  
"And?"   
  
Quatre shook his head. "I saw a man who did resemble Trowa but I couldn't be positive. In any case, I tailed him half way around the world to where I can only guess is his home."   
  
"Have you told Une?" Heero asked, his pulse quickening.   
  
"No. At least not the last part." Quatre handed Heero a slip of paper bearing an address in America.   
  
"Why are you giving it to me?" Heero questioned.   
  
"I don't think I can handle seeing my best friend revert back to his old ways. I know you'll be able to deal with him more...effectively."   
  
~~~   
  
Une gladly let Heero take two weeks time off considering he had never taken a vacation or sick day during his entire career. Heero headed straight to the airport once Une let him go. His destination: a small mid-west town in America.   
  
Nearly a half day later, Heero found himself on a two-lane highway in Missouri. Luckily it was November so the humidity wasn't a problem. After checking into a quaint motel, Heero took a shower. He was exhausted. Ever since that last night with Pagan he hadn't been getting any sleep. Since the night in the mausoleum, he really hadn't been getting any sleep.   
  
_Poor Natalie. She's always known she was competing with someone. I just never told her it was with a dead woman._ Heero chuckled in spite of himself. _My dear Natalie. I'm so sorry. I've been having an affair with a ghost._ With that as his final thought, Heero fell into a dreamless sleep he hadn't experienced since the Eve Wars.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: It applies, obviously. Leave me alone now. I must obsess over Trowa...now.   
  
AN:  This chapter has been dubbed _Heero and The Old Woman: A conversation_.   
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter Six**   
by Wicked Child   
  
Heero woke late the next day. Very late to be precise. He cursed himself when he noticed just how late, ten o'clock. Never in his life—barring self destruction and the like—had he slept that late. Quickly showering and dressing, he took one last look at the map bought detailing the region where Trowa may or may not live.   
  
He bought a coffee, surprisingly delicious, from a local shop and drove to the destination. The house bearing the address given to him by Quatre was a two story home built during a time when space colonies were just a dream and no closer to reality than peace. The house itself seemed quiet, with no movement on the inside so far as he could tell.   
  
From where he parked his car, Heero saw that the house was well kept having been recently painted a soft yellow with green shutters and white trim. The yard, though beginning to die from the oncoming winter, was neatly trimmed with well pruned rose bushes among other botanicals Heero didn't care to recall. The yard even had a picket white fence and wrap around porch. A few chairs were set off to one side separated by a small table.   
  
_How quaint._   
  
An elderly woman came out of her home directly next door to Trowa's. Her heavy frame ambled toward her mailbox when Heero decided to question whether she knew Pilot 03.   
  
"Excuse me ma'am," he called out.   
  
The woman looked up, her blue eyes startled. As Heero approached and finally reached her, the woman's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Even in the current age, not many Asian looking men were commonly seen in the American Mid-West.   
  
"How can I help you?" she asked warily.   
  
There was no way he would get the information he sought if he acted in his usual manner. Heero smiled. He didn't do it often but when he did, his handsome face became devastatingly handsome and he would, at times, use it to his full advantage.   
  
"I was wondering if you could help me." Heero produced an older photo of Trowa from his jacket. It was taken not long before Relena's "death." "This is an old friend of mine. I haven't seen him in six years but was told that he may live right there next door to you." Heero pointed to the yellow house for emphasis. He didn't think the old woman was daft but figured it was a normal thing people did.   
  
The woman studied the photo, plucking it from Heero's calloused hands into her pudgy ones. It contained the five former Gundam pilots as well as Sally, Noin, Une, and even Zechs. Mariemaia had taken the photo as it had been a hobby of hers.   
  
"Huh," she grunted. "You look the same. Unhappy." The woman looked at Heero. "Were you two close?"   
  
Heero shook his head. "Sadly no. A mutual friend of ours recently passed and I wanted to inform him. No one knew were to find him so my friend may not even know."   
  
The woman studied Heero for a moment longer before responding. "Yeah I know him. Sweet fellow he is. Wonderful wife and kids. Darling family really. Don't see much of that these days."   
  
Heero's pulse quickened. _So Trowa does live here!_   
  
"Yeah Mr. Bloom is one sweet man. Always helping me out around the house fixing this and fixing that. Mrs. Bloom, oh what a darling!" The old woman gushed. "Whenever my 'thritis acts up, she's over here cooking and cleaning. I don't know how she manages it with a husband and two little ones."   
  
Despite his excitement at finally finding Trowa, Heero continued to listen attentively nodding and smiling when appropriate. He leaned in close when the old woman leaned forward as to tell him a secret.   
  
"I think there'll be a third little one soon too. Ana isn't showing but she's got that glow about her." The woman nodded sagely, believing that aged knowledge means wisdom regarding all aspects of life.   
  
_Trowa, married and has kids_. Heero had a hard time getting his head around that idea. He had thought that at one point in his own life he would have a wife, namely Relena, and several little runts creating havoc and being spoiled by Quatre and learning not so legal habits from Duo, while they learned all about justice from Wufei. He never thought that Trowa would be the type to settle down. _Who's Ana? Is that Relena's new name or am I completely off base?_   
  
"What does Mr. Bloom say?" Heero asked, referring to the possibility of another child.   
  
"Who Triton?" The old woman waved her hands dismissing the comment. "He said no more after Bella Rose was born but that doesn't mean a thing. He said the same thing when their first one, Maxwell was born. I think he'll be just delighted. Family seems important to him."   
  
Heero smiled again. "Family is important."   
  
The old woman grinned broadly. "I take care of those two little one while Triton and Ana are out of town."   
  
"It's good to know that there are fine people like yourself to help out when help is needed," Heero praised her smiling. He looked around the old woman's hard and noticed that it too was well kept though the house itself needed a paint job. He returned his attention back to his elderly informant.   
  
"Tell me, how long has Triton lived here?"   
  
"Six years now and I hope for much longer," came her matter-of-fact response.   
  
Heero stuck out his hand and smiled again thinking that he had used up a lifetime of smiles for this conversation. "Thank you. Don't tell Triton about me. I'd like to surprise him and I just don't think anyone should tell him about our friend."   
  
The two shook hands vigorously. For an old woman, she had a strong grip.   
  
"No problem sir. The kids get home around two forty-five and Ana meets them out front. She gets home from work around two o'clock."   
  
Heero nodded. "Again, thank you."   
  
Heero left the woman, his head swimming.   
  
At precisely two o'clock, a dark green, four door sedan pulled into the bright yellow home's driveway. The windows were too dark for Heero to distinguish the driver but guessed that it must be Ana Bloom. He cursed himself for having forgotten his laptop at the motel. This "mission" was making him lose his edge. He smiled ruefully. _Relena always had that affect on me_.   
  
Forty-five minutes later two children came running down the street, back-packs flying from side to side as their laughter rang out in the brisk autumn air. Both had light brown hair with streaks of gold in the sunlight, and as they got closer Heero could see eyes of an unmistakable shade of green.   
  
"Mama!" the girl, Bella Rose called out to a slender woman standing on the side walk.   
  
Heero hadn't noticed that a woman had emerged from the house. His breath caught in his throat. The woman's honey blonde hair was swept up in a twist, her peach colored skin slightly pink from the same autumn air the children laughter echoed in. She wore black slacks with a pale blue satin blouse. She looked beautiful, exquisite. Out of place in the town. She looked like royalty.   
  
"Relena."   
  
The little girl leapt into her waiting mother's arms and kissed her.   
  
"Look what I made mama! It's a picture of Papa when he was a clown!"   
  
Relena, or was it Ana? Heero wasn't sure what to call her, but the mother took the picture and gushed. "Oh Papa will be so very proud. It looks just like him Bella."   
  
The little girl beamed with pride, her cherubic face scrunched into a grin. Relena set her down and told her to go on inside before turning her attention to the older child.   
  
"And you Maxwell? How was school?"   
  
The boy shrugged. A lot had been riding on the occurrences at school that day but he didn't want to give his emotions away so easily to his mama. "Fine. Got an 'A' on my spelling test."   
  
Relena nodded. She had expected him to do well on that test but his ogre of a teacher decided that two tests, one right after another was in the children's best interests. It was the second test that worried her. "And math?"   
  
Maxwell shrugged again, slightly pouty this time. "It was a test. Everything I studied for wasn't even on it."   
  
Relena sighed, fearing the worst for her son and ready to console him. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. I know how hard you studied for that test." She reached out and moved some of her son's bangs out of his eyes. It reminded her of his father.   
  
Maxwell smiled. "Somebody gets to have a pizza party!"   
  
Relena laughed and clasped her hands together in delight. "You passed it!"   
  
Her son nodded enthusiastically. "I aced it mama. I was the only one who got everything right."   
  
"That's wonderful sweetie! You take after your father in that department." Relena hugged her son tightly, happy that his day had gone well and nothing horrible had happened to either of her two treasures.   
  
She had been unable to sleep lately, sensing that something was coming but unable to pinpoint what or when. She was just thankful that it had so far not involved her children or husband. Her husband. He had been gone for over a week and while that was not unusual, his lack of communication was. She missed him more now than when they had first become involved.   
  
"Come on mama," Maxwell said breaking his mother's train of thought. "Let's go inside and start a fire!" The little boy tugged on his mother's arm. He seemed to have a penchant for starting things on fire.   
  
"You go on in. I still have to check the mail. And don't go near the fireplace unless I'm with you."   
  
"Okay!" Maxwell ran into the house while his mother turned toward the street and the mailbox.   
  
Instinctively Heero ducked down in his car. He didn't want Relena to know he was there just yet. That he knew for certain but unfortunately it was the only thing he knew.   
  
Relena noticed the unfamiliar car parked across the street. It was a black luxury car, not unusual for this area but something told Relena that it was wrong. She quickly retrieved her mail and went back inside the house where Bella was screaming that Maxwell had poured juice all over her on purpose.   
  
_Oh Trowa. Come home soon! I need you._


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the series Gundam Wing. I do however own the song (it's not that great so don't get all jumpy) and the plot.  
  
AN: I hope this is up to your standards. But I must warn you! There is a really bad fight scene ahead. I apologize for my lack of skill in writing action.  
  
**Relena Was Dead: Chapter Seven**  
by Wicked Child  
  
It was well passed midnight when Triton Bloom came home. He'd been called away on an urgent mission. He'd felt guilty leaving his wife and kids so soon after just returning home. As he walked into the kitchen from the garage, Triton felt something against his leg.  
  
"Hello Quatre," he said as he bent down and pet his Shih Tzu. "Where's your lady tonight hm? Where's Dorothy?"  
  
The dog ran around in a circle then dashed off to the living room. Triton chuckled to himself. _Crazy dog_.  
  
It wasn't until he reached the hallway that Triton noticed another presence in the home. Light was coming from the living room.  
  
_That's strange. Ana never leaves a light on this late_.   
  
Gun drawn, Triton walked into the room. There, sitting on his couch was….  
  
"Heero."  
  
"Trowa."  
  
Both men stared at each other, silently assessing. In Trowa's eyes Heero truly hadn't changed or aged at all. _Well his jaw is set tighter and he's here which means that he knows_. Automatically Trowa's eyes looked back to the staircase.  
  
"Don't worry Mr. Bloom. I haven't approached her yet. I wouldn't know what to say." Heero stood and despite the anger building, he gently moved the dog Quatre out of the way before walking up to his former comrade studying him.  
  
He was still taller than Heero but his hair was no longer in its usual style. No longer did hair fall over one eye, but rather swept back off his face revealing all and yet nothing. His eyes were still unreadable as ever.  
  
_He's a handsome man. No wonder Relena fell for him_.   
  
"What are you doing here Heero?" Trowa asked as he set his gun down on a nearby table.  
  
"Seek out the clown," came the reply.  
  
Trowa smiled a small sad smile. "Pagan always said he would give us up before he died."  
  
"So that was you and Relena at the cemetery?"  
  
Trowa's eyes narrowed. "Yes I was there. No, Relena wasn't. Relena is dead. She died six years ago, maybe even earlier than that. Who you saw was Ana Bloom, my wife."  
  
As Trowa talked, Heero's own eyes narrowed. His anger was getting the better of him. Without another word he lunged, intent on hurting Trowa. Heero didn't want to kill him, just hurt him. Badly.  
  
While unexpected, Heero's sudden movements were something that Trowa was prepared for. The two began exchanging punches and kicks as the fight moved around the living room.  
  
"You took her away from me!" Heero raged as he threw Trowa against a wall.  
  
"She was never yours to begin with!" Trowa shot back as he lunged at Heero, propelling them both over the love seat and crashing into the coffee table breaking it.  
  
"You took her away from everyone who loved her you bastard!" Heero wrapped his hands around Trowa's throat and began to squeeze.  
  
Trowa reached back and with all his might, hit Heero squarely on the side of the face, stunning him, and enabling Trowa to get out of his grasp.  
  
"If any of you actually loved her, you would have seen her dying long ago. Instead you kept killing her when you should have set her free." Trowa kicked Heero, making the other man double over.  
  
"Fuck you Barton," Heero wheezed. "I was the only one who protected her."  
  
After regaining enough of his breath he attacked Trowa again. Both men were in mid-punch when a shot rang out startling both men enough to stop their fight.  
  
"I suggest you two quit this damned fight as you have awakened my children," Relena stated calmly as she stood at the edge of her living room in flannel pajamas with a gun pointed at the two men.  
  
_No_, Heero thought. _It's pointed at me_.  
  
Trowa lowered his arm and stepped away from his fellow combatant. To his wife he asked, "Where are the children?"  
  
"Huddled in our bedroom. I told them to stay there no matter what. Quatre and Dorothy are with them."  
  
Trowa nodded. He wiped some blood away from his mouth and looked at Heero. "Kitchen."  
  
With her gun, Relena motioned for Heero to follow. She then looked around her demolished living room. _This is going to be hell to clean_. She sighed. _They weren't Gundam pilots for nothing if they couldn't demolish properly. But it is an excuse to get that new living room set I've been telling Trowa about_.  
  
Aloud she said, "I'm going to put the kids back to bed."  
  
"Let them sleep in our bed if they feel safer," Trowa said from the kitchen where he pulled three mugs down from a cabinet. He knew his wife nodded in ascent and was heading up the stairs when he realized he hadn't greeted her properly.  
  
As Relena was nearing the second floor landing, Trowa called out to her. She stopped and turned around. "Hm?"  
  
"I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful tonight. And I'm sorry."  
  
Relena gave him a smile reserved only for him and said, "I love you too."  
  
Ten minutes later, Heero, Relena, and Trowa were in the kitchen nursing cups of hot cocoa. Relena's had a shot of Peppermint Schnapps as well.  
  
"So what did Pagan tell you?" Trowa asked.  
  
"Only that Relena lives and that I needed to seek out the clown," Heero replied his voice betraying none of his feelings.  
  
Another small sad smile stole across Trowa's face. "He never could see me as anything but a circus clown." Trowa had never understood Pagan's willing acceptance of Heero and yet his adamant disapproval of him. Neither man was better than the other if truth be told.  
  
"Whose idea was it?" Heero asked before clarifying. "To fake your death?" He looked from Relena to Trowa and back again. Trowa was right. She did look beautiful in her plaid flannel pajamas that had definitely seen better days.  
  
Relena returned his look. "It was my idea. I was tired of not having a life, not being able to have a moment's peace for myself." She sipped her drink before continuing. "So I went to Trowa and asked if he could and would help me."  
  
"Why not resign?" Heero asked. _If she was that unhappy, why didn't she tell anyone?_  
  
"Do you think they would honestly let me?" Relena laughed mirthlessly. "Had I not died I would be stuck mediating petty squabbles educated men thought important. I would always be looked to to solve problems. You of all people should know what that's like."  
  
Silently Heero agreed. He too found it tiresome that everyone looked at him to lead and have all the answers when in truth half the time he didn't even know what he was doing. "So why Trowa? Why not me or Quatre?"  
  
Relena looked at Heero balefully. "You would convince me otherwise. I was still a symbol for you the way I was a symbol for the people. The other pilots included."  
  
Relena looked at her husband and her face softened dramatically. "Except for Trowa. He knew that I was a mere mortal, a woman who had needs." To Trowa directly she said, "You saw me for what I really was. A lost little girl alone in the wilderness getting more and more lost and lonely."  
  
Trowa walked over to his wife and embraced her, stroking her customary bedtime ponytail. "You were never lost Lena. Not really. You just needed to be found."  
  
Despite the pain caused by their deceit, Trowa loved his wife and wouldn't change anything. He had known someone would find out the truth, namely Heero but he didn't care. Relena was worth a thousand deaths and tears.  
  
He looked over at Heero and felt a moment of fear. Yes he knew that Heero would be the one to find out and that man was the only person Trowa had ever truly feared. Trowa was not afraid of the man because he was considered "perfect" in all aspects of soldiering duties or anything of that nature. He never feared Heero's death threats whether it in words or glares. If he really wanted, Trowa could have easily beaten and killed his former comrade. Many times.  
  
No he did not fear Heero for his abilities. He feared Heero because of the effect he had on Relena. She had loved him at one time, though nothing ever occurred for that love to blossom. But Trowa knew that Heero was still in love with Relena and he had always had a power of the woman. A marriage and children could not keep two people apart if that's what they wanted.  
  
"Well that's just so sweet and endearing," Heero spat. He had their lame excuse of love and sanity but that didn't answer Heero's true question. "So tell me Triton, what do you do for a living?"  
  
Trowa stared at him for a long time. He finally came to realize he absolutely hated Heero Yuy. "What business is it of yours?"  
  
"Plenty. You see, I'm still a Preventer."  
  
"Your point?" Trowa stepped away from his wife and faced Heero.  
  
"Have you gone back to your old ways Nanashi? Are you prostituting yourself as a merc again or are we mistaken that you aren't responsible for certain skirmishes and assassinations?" When Trowa didn't respond Heero prompted again. "Well Nanashi?"  
  
Trowa eyes flashed dangerously, fire burning deep within. "Don't you ever call me that again."  
  
"Isn't that your name?" Heero questioned maliciously.  
  
"My name is Triton Bloom."  
  
"What? You got tired of Trowa Barton?" Heero taunted. He was being unduly cruel and he knew and the best part was that he didn't give a damn. "So who's the poor sap you took your name from this time? Did you kill him yourself or have some doctor's assistant do it for you?"  
  
Trowa's body began to tremble with rage. Yes, he hated Yuy with a passion surpassed only by his love for his wife and children. If Relena had not been present, Trowa would have literally ripped out Heero's heart.  
  
"Triton Bloom is my birth name. If anyone is Nanashi, I suggest you look in the mirror." He had to control his rage. "At least I now have proof to who I am and my past."  
  
Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously. He was itching to hurt Trowa again.  
  
"And if you must know Agent Yuy," Trowa seethed. "Yes I am the one responsible for recent activities."  
  
If Heero had been hoping for Relena to shrink away from her husband in horror, he was sorely mistaken. Instead she wrapped her arms around his waist comforting him.  
  
"Calm down honey," she murmured. "You don't want to do this. We both know you are no longer Nanashi and that you never were." Relena could feel his body tremble in anger. It took a lot to anger him and it was usually only her voice that could calm him down. Heero's presence wasn't helping matters.  
  
Heero was silently stunned. The biggest pacifist had married a former mercenary who had gone back to his old ways of killing for hire and instead of shunning him she was comforting him? How was that possible?   
  
Slowly Trowa was able to reign in his anger, though he kept throwing daggers at Heero whenever the Preventer was in his line of vision.  
  
"Heero," Relena said, her voice cutting through the tension. "Why are you here?"  
  
The Preventer looked at the deceased Vice Foreign Minister. She was looking at him with concern in her eyes though for whom the concern was meant he was unable to determine just then.  
  
"If what your husband says is true, I need to take him into Preventer custody and back to headquarters in Europe." Heero looked at Trowa who merely looked back at him impassively, anger fully in check. "Once there he'll be interrogated, most likely under intense conditions as he seems to be a rather disagreeable fellow."  
  
No reaction came from Trowa who fully knew the organization's interrogation tactics on certain types of individuals. He gave Heero a curt nod in understanding. Relena was a different matter.  
  
"I refuse to allow you to take him," she stated emphatically.  
  
"That's not your decision," Heero retorted. "Dead women don't get to decide."  
  
Before she could respond, Trowa placed a hand on her belly to silence her.  
  
"We knew this would happen one day," he said softly. "It was part of the package."  
  
Relena looked up into his green eyes. "They're going to interrogate you."  
  
Trowa nodded. Heero remained silent, watching.  
  
"I remember what you told me about Preventer interrogations."  
  
Again Trowa nodded. "And I will keep my silence."  
  
Tears began to rim Relena's lower lashes. "They're going to hurt you to talk," she whispered, her voice choked with tears. "They'll try to make you scream."  
  
Trowa's face became determined. "Then I will scream in silence. I will not be broken. I cannot be broken. I have a wife and two children to come home to." Trowa eyes softened as his hand pressed itself against her belly. "Make that a wife and three children."  
  
Heero's eyes hardened as he watched Relena finally break and bury her face into Trowa's chest.  
  
"Let's go 03."  
  
The love that had been in Trowa's eyes just moments before fled as they turned on the Preventer invading his home.  
  
"Allow me to tuck my children in bed." Without another word or glance, Trowa was upstairs leaving the former princess and soldier alone.  
  
Relena swallowed the remainder of her tears and looked at Heero. No malice, no hate, nothing that resembled ill will housed within.  
  
"Tell me Heero," she said softly, her voice still like a soft song. "How is Natalie?"  
  
"Papa, do you have to go?" Bella asked sadly.  
  
Trowa smiled at his youngest. "I'm sorry Bella, but I don't have a choice."  
  
"But you just got here!" Maxwell protested. He'd been happy when he saw his father come into the room, though is appearance was rather messy. He figured that Papa and Mama were making him another sibling. Instead he found out that Papa was leaving again.  
  
"I know son but I have to go. As I said, I don't have a choice." Trowa held back his tears and he looked at his two children. He saw their hurt and confusion mirrored in one another and was currently unable to assuage any of it.  
  
"Are you and mama getting a divorce?" his son asked impulsively.  
  
Trowa laughed despite the situation. "Do you even know what divorce is Maxwell?"  
  
The boy nodded. "It's when a son's papa moves out and never comes to see his son anymore because he hates him and would rather spend time with his new whore toy from Dairy Queen."  
  
For a moment Trowa was speechless and not by choice. "Where," he began before stopping, shaking his head then continuing. "Where did you hear that?"  
  
"Jonny Moyer. That's what his papa did."  
  
Trowa kissed his son and said, "Well you don't have to worry about that Maxwell. I'm not going to divorce your mama and she's not going to divorce me. Okay?"  
  
The boy nodded satisfied and snuggled further under the sheets.  
  
"Papa?"  
  
Trowa looked over at his daughter. "Yes milady?"  
  
"Where'd you get that cut?" Bella pointed to a half inch cut on his left cheek bone.  
  
"I don't know milady."  
  
"Does it hurt?" Concern filled her wondrous green eyes.  
  
"Just a little," Trowa admitted.  
  
Bella climbed out of the bed and crawled over to her father before standing up and kissing him gently on his wound.  
  
"All better now?"  
  
Trowa nodded his heart in his throat and full of love. _God, please don't take my family from me_.  
  
Happy, Bella got back in bed next to her brother.  
  
"Can I do anything to repay you milady?"  
  
"Sing me a song?"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Our song," Bella answered lovingly. If she had her way, she'd be married to Papa.  
  
Maxwell rolled his eyes. Inside he was silently hoping their father would grace them with the song his mother had taught him.  
  
Trowa smiled and began singing softly.  
  
_Bye oh bye __  
Bye oh bye  
Bye oh bye sweet children.  
  
Go to sleep  
Go to sleep  
Go to sleep and rest your weary heads.  
  
Dream your dreams  
Dream your dreams  
Dream you dreams and wake up anew.  
  
Bye oh bye  
Bye oh bye  
  
Go to sleep  
Go to sleep  
  
Dream your dreams  
Dream your dreams  
And know that your mama loves you.  
  
Bye oh bye  
Bye oh bye  
  
Go to sleep  
Go to sleep  
  
Dream your dreams  
Dream your dreams  
And know that your papa loves you._  
  
Trowa's voice cracked as he sang the last line, tears choking him. He hung his head, letting the tears flow freely, while is children slept soundly.  
  
Relena and Heero watched in the doorway. Tears fell from Relena's eyes to match those of her husband while Heero looked unmoved his face made of stone.  
  
"Remember this Heero," Relena whispered and looked at him. "Remember what you do to us."  
  
Heero's look was all he needed for a response.  
  
"An adult's wounds heal Heero," she answered. "A child's stays with them. You should know." With that she walked into the room.  
  
Heero remained in the doorway, filing Relena's words way for later contemplation.


End file.
